It was exquisitely crafted and deliberately hollowed out, and may
have been imported from Italy or Spain, said the dig leader
Bonnie Petrunova, deputy director of Bulgaria's National
Archaeology Museum.

Petrunova believes the ring would have been worn on the pinkie
finger of a man's right hand. The hole would have allowed its
wearer to sneakily pour
poison into a glass with the flick of his finger, the
archaeologist said in a statement from Bulgaira's Kavarna
municipality.

Petrunova thinks the ring could be linked to Dobrotitsa, a noble
who ruled the region in second half of the 14th century.

"This explains many of the unexplained deaths among nobles and
aristocrats close to Dobrotitsa," local officials in Kavarna
said.